Mumbai "Slumdog" critic names dogs after film makers

A scene from Fox Searchlight's ''Slumdog Millionaire''.

MUMBAI (Reuters) - A critic of the award-winning movie "Slumdog Millionaire" has named stray dogs after those involved in the film to protest against the title.

Nicholas Almeida, a social activist and slum dweller himself, has filed a complaint in a local court against director Danny Boyle, producer Christian Colson and the distributor, saying the film's title was damaging and discriminating.

The movie, shot largely in a Mumbai slum, charts the rags to riches tale of a mendicant boy who wins a fortune on a quiz show.

"When the British ruled India, they called Indians 'dogs'. Why do we want to call these poor children 'dogs' 60 years after we got independence?" Almeida, an elected member of the city civic body who lives in a suburban slum, told Reuters.

Almeida said he would continue to press for the movie's title to be changed, but has meanwhile held a naming ceremony for stray dogs in the slum to publicize his cause.

"I have named them Danny, Christian, Loveleen, Dev and Freida," he said, referring to the director, producer, co-director Loveleen Tandan, star Dev Patel and leading lady Freida Pinto.

(Reporting by Rina Chandran; Editing by Krittivas Mukherjee)